New Development team close pitch opening day with a flourish

On the day of the pitch opening ceremony, another era started with the first game from the new Men's Development team. The Development team is a multi-age colts team playing in the Men's Leagues with a couple of Senior mentors (Myself and Surjit).

With this being their first game and seeing that some of the opposition were significantly older and taller (and in some cases wider) than they were, there was some initial apprehension but after some stirring words from coach Ranjeev Deol and some forewarning that since this was a friendly match they shouldn't be surprised when the opposition pass them the ball from the pushback (!) from Steve Dixon they were ready for the game. As it turned out their apprehension was misplaced as Slough launched into a confident display of controlled passing, skill, pace and attacking hockey that kept Eastcote pinned in their half for most of the game. With the amount of creativity on display, chances were inevitable and Slough went close a number of times but were unable to score. After a number of unsuccessful corners, Surjit Sandhu took charge, passed to Jaimal Toor on the left who made a great pass to the right of the goal for Arjun Shah to tap in the team's inaugural goal.

The team were then giving an illustration of how easy it is to concede in senior hockey when a bit of miscommunication and a through ball lead to a tap. The half ended 1-1 which was not a reflection of Slough's dominance and Slough looking a little bit ragged in their formation due to some experimental positional changes. After some words at half time, Slough reverted to their original formation except that now Talhah Muhammad swapped into defence instead of Jaimal and while that removed Jaimal's free running attacking it did add a stability that turned out to be the platform for Slough to build upon.

Following the change Slough continued to dominate and were rewarded with 3 more unanswered goals to secure their first victory. The pick of the bunch was a great slap shot from the top of the "D" across the keeper in to the bottom left corner by Zora Thind, but this was run close by a great direct short corner strike from Kavan Nijher near the end of the game reflecting the team's growing confidence. Jaimal picked up the other with a tap in following some good team play.

Kavan was voted "man of the match" for a creative and confident performance but was run close by Dan Buckledee's tireless running in midfield and Sam Harris' close control and confidence. However, the whole team played at a great standard and all contributed significantly. In terms of individual performances, from the back Rahul Kapur made a great save from a short corner and became increasingly vocal as the game went on in guiding his defence, Amrit Lalli pit in a super defensive performance at left back exuding calm confidence in a critical position and Arjun Thind bombed forward on the right and put in a number of dangerous crossed. Talha Muhammad okayed a great game at centre back with good positioning and tackling, both of which are key. Vivek Shah did exactly what was needed in centre midfield: received the ball and moved it on to keep Slough's attacking momentum and his brother Rohan put in a great attacking contribution. Up front Fin Morris and Sam Harris created a number of chances and will score more in future games.

All in all a start that has far exceeded all expectations and very promising for the future.